The present invention relates to a tape dispenser, and, more particularly, to a tape dispenser that allows hands-free extraction of tape.
The most common type of tape dispensers are adhesive tape dispensers which normally include a housing for supporting a spool or roll of adhesive tape in spaced relationship with a cutter. Conventional adhesive tape rolls are manufactured in standardized sizes so as to be adaptable to home or office dispensers. Therefore, when a roll of adhesive tape is exhausted, a replacement roll may be easily mounted to a dispenser.
As opposed to replacement type dispensers, there are other types of adhesive tape dispensers which are inexpensively manufactured to be disposed of once a single roll of tape has been fully dispensed. Such dispensers are normally constructed of a combination of plastic and cardboard type materials.
Tape dispensers are often awkward to use. Most conventional adhesive tape dispensers, which are of low cost and available to the consumers, require that the tape dispenser be held with one hand while the tape is extracted and cut with the other. This means that the package that is being wrapped with the adhesive tape must be released until the tape is cut. Additionally, often the cut tape folds on itself and adheres to itself, thereby necessitating that the tape be pulled apart before it can be utilized.
To alleviate the problems of the traditional tape dispensers, some have proposed tape dispensers designed to be worn to a person's wrist or fingers. U.S. Pat. No. 3,993,230 to Oakes discloses an adhesive tape dispenser having one or more openings through which a person's fingers may be extended to support the tape dispenser relative to the hand. While this dispenser allows the user to utilize both hands, it suffers from the drawback that the dispenser must be supported by one or more fingers so that the physical dexterity of the user is interfered with during tasks such as wrapping, holding or supporting packages relative to the tape dispenser.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,928,864 to Walker et al. discloses a portable dispenser for dispensing tape materials which includes a base portion formed as a C-shaped or continuous clamp which is engageable over the back of an individual's hand. U.S. Pat. No. 5,215,236 to Waddell discloses a clip-on clamp or bracket which is engageable over the back of an individual's hand which is used to selectively support a conventional disposable tape dispenser. Unfortunately, these known dispensers are generally worn around the user's hands, which restricts the user to using his free hand for extracting tape.
While these units mentioned above may be suitable for the particular purpose employed, or for general use, they would not be as suitable for the purposes of the present invention as disclosed hereafter.